eponymous
adjective

- of, relating to, or being the person or thing for whom or which something is named : of, relating to, or being an

—
ORIGIN

Mid 19th century: It’s no coincidence that “eponymous” has to do with naming - it comes to us from the Greek adjective epōnymos (epi ‘upon’ + onyma ‘name’).

—
“Onyma” has lent its name to a number of English words, including “synonymous,” “pseudonym,” and “anonymous.”

You’ll notice hundreds of eponyms in English deriving from mythological characters, scientists, philosophers, artists, inventors, monarchs, entrepreneurs, despots, politicians,…

A small selection:

Achilles’ heel, Pandora’s box, Herculean task, Draconian laws, Mercurial attitude, Narcissistic tendencies, Euclidian geometry, Newtonian physics, Diesel engine, Zeppelin, Elizabethan era, Georgian architecture, Victorian silverware, Edwardian furniture, Caesarian section, Alzheimer’s disease, Down’s syndrome, Morse code, Ohm’s Law, Tesla cars, Disneyland, Darwinism, Stalinism, Orwellian, Maoism, Reaganomics, Thatcherism, Obamacare,… and dare we say,… Trumpism.

—
Practice OWAD in a conversation today

“Hey Manfred, have you heard of the EPONYMOUS John Montague (1718-1792), 4th Earl of Sandwich in England, who would ask his servants to bring him slices of meat between two slices of bread; other people, according to this account, began to order ‘the same as Sandwich!’, and thus the sandwich was born.”

—
VIELEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations at:

https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-3

Paul Smith